S.C.I. Mystery Vol. 1, Ch. 48

Magic Murderer 3: Ghost

December 12, 8:30 a.m., Police Department S.C.I. Office.

The conference room was filled with grim faces, and the bloody crime scene photos on the table stimulated everyone's nerves.

Gongsun came in last, holding Sun Qian's autopsy report in his hand. His face was somber.

"How was it?" Bai Yutang anxiously asked him when he sat down. Everyone was now paying close attention. They were concerned that what Zhan Zhao had said was true—that the crimes committed that day and the day before had been done by two different people!

Gongsun rubbed his eyebrows and said, "It was two people."

Although everyone trusted Zhan Zhao's judgment 100%, they had still clung to a last ray of hope that the outcome wouldn’t be so terrible. However, the forensic conclusion was iron-clad evidence.

"The incision on Zhang Zhenzhen's corpse was cut from the bottom left to the top right. That is, the murderer used his right hand." Gongsun gestured slightly in the air, then said, "Sun Qian's wound extends from the bottom right to the top left, meaning that killer was left-handed. Also, the depths of the two cuts were different. "

"That means the two people’s strengths are different?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Yes!" Gongsun nodded. "Zhang Zhenzhen's wound is shallow, while Sun Qian's wound is deep.

"What does that mean?" Said Wang Chao. "Do the killers have different physiques?"

Gongsun shook his head and said, "In fact, there are many factors that can cause different depths of wounds. Moreover, Sun Qian is a small child and is easier to subdue than Zhang Zhen..." He paused. "However, I personally prefer Xiao Zhao's point of view. The first murder is a novice, and the second one is experienced. "

"Why?" Zhao Hu asked puzzledly. "He hasn’t committed a crime for so many years, and suddenly he appears again. And on top of that, he killed a small child?"

Bai Yutang thought about it for a while, then said, "Right now we have too little information. Let’s break up and collect clues first. Wang Chao and Zhang Long, go to the school to see if there were any witnesses. Ma Han, you go to check the scene. Zhao Hu, go with Xu Qing to visit the families of the victims and investigate their social relations. Gongsun, find all the autopsy reports from the previous cases and compare them. Kitty and Bai Chi, find the old cases this afternoon. Jiang Ping, you should research the meaning behind the magic array. I will go to the police officers who were responsible for these cases in the past to ask about the situation. We’ll split up today and reconvene tomorrow morning to compile the information, understand? "

"Yes." Everyone left after taking their orders.

Jiang Ping buried her head in her computer and banged on the keyboard; Gongsun rushed to the reference room; Zhan Zhao and Bai Chi plunged into an ocean of books and newspapers and began to browse the text at a rate that any human would be envious of~~

Bai Yutang looked left and right and found that nothing was out-of-line, so he slipped downstairs.

The first floor of the police station was where ordinary cases were handled: civil disputes, promiscuous incidents, drug addiction, theft...

"Uncle Wen." Bai Yutang walked into a chaotic office and patted an old man who was making transcripts of interrogations.

"Oh! Xiao Bai!" The old man, known as Uncle Wen, hurriedly stood up. "You’re so busy. Why are you here?"

"Are you busy?" Bai Yutang asked with a smile.

"I’m not busy, and even if I was busy, I would put it aside regardless of how much work I had, right?" Uncle Wen cheerfully brought in a police officer to continue his work and invited Bai Yutang to sit in his office.

"What's wrong? What do you need this old man’s help with?" Uncle Wen asked as he poured tea.

"Oh~~ I wanted to ask, who investigated the magic serial killings ten years ago..."

As soon as Bai Yutang's words fell from his mouth, he heard a "Dang Dang" as the cup in Uncle Wen's hand fell to the ground and hot water splashed all over.

"What's wrong? Uncle Wen." Bai Yutang hurried forward to take the electric kettle from his hands and helped him sit down. He noticed that Uncle Wen's face was pale, and his hands were shaking slightly.

"Alas... I'm okay. It’s a shame, but I'm too old to handle the excitement." Uncle Wen calmed down, and his face improved significantly. "It's been more than a decade."

"Uncle Wen, why are you reacting so strongly?" Bai Yutang asked tentatively.

"Oh..." Uncle Wen pointed at him with a smile, "You’re just like your old man!"

Bai Yutang smiled and said nothing, waiting for Uncle Wen to continue.

"The policeman named Wei Yong... he chased that serial killer for several years. His fiancée was also killed by him, and then, ah, he chased day and night like crazy, but ah, well, the murderer evaporated a decade ago. Because Wei Yong's behavior was a little bit extreme... in the end, he left the police force." Uncle Wen said, "The case lasted a long time, and the other police officers were either replaced partway through or were inattentive like me. In short, the only one who chased him from beginning to end was Wei Yong. "

"So where is he now?" Bai Yutang asked.

"..." Uncle Wen was silent for a moment, then said, "I'm not very sure about that. I only know that he has set up a detective agency by himself and has still been tracking him down."

"Oh..." Bai Yutang nodded his head. He was thinking about what to say next, but he heard a commotion outside the door.

Uncle Wen stood up and went out.

In the vast office, several policemen were pressing a brat with blood all over his head into a chair. He was constantly scolding the other party. On the other side was a young woman dressed in casual jeans. She seemed to have drunk too much and was yelling at the man. Two younger girls next to her were struggling to pull her back. Bai Yutang knew the two girls. They were Qi Le and Chen Yu.

"What are you doing?!" Uncle Wen yelled, and both sides quieted down.

"This crazy woman was drunk and hit me!" The man said as he covered his head, "I was walking and minding my own business when she sprung out and smashed my head in with a bottle! I will sue her for personal assault!"

"Be honest!" One of the police officers pushed him back again. "You didn’t mess with her, and she beat you for no reason?!"

"Sergeant, you haven’t seen her drunk..." The little punk turned around while arguing noisily and suddenly saw Bai Yutang standing to the side. He immediately went quiet, coughed lightly, and sat primely upright.

Qi Le also saw Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow at her, and asked, "Weren’t you changing for the better? Why are you still hanging out like this?"

"You’ve got it wrong!" Qi Le retorted quickly, then whispered, "What goes around comes around. She is my roommate. She didn't come back last night, so we went to Bar Street to find her."

Chen Yu next to her nodded quickly, "Yes! We were afraid she would suffer, so we followed her to the police station."

Bai Yutang nodded and looked at the punk, "How are you?"

"No... I’m okay..." The hooligan laughed quickly, "I’m to blame for not walking carefully... haha."

Qi Le and Chen Yu were surprised, but the other police officers understood. They weren’t foolish. Even the older brother did not dare to offend Bai Yutang, let alone these younger brothers.

Then, the punk got up and walked away, "It's okay, sisters. It’s a misunderstanding, misunderstanding... bye."

"Wait a minute." Bai Yutang stopped him, saw his face grow pale, and laughed, "What are you afraid of?" After that, he handed him a few banknotes, "Take them for treatment."

"Oh~~ Thank you..." The punk took the money and ran off.

Qi Le's face was awkward, and she whispered, "I'll give it back to you."

Bai Yutang turned back and saw that Uncle Wen was already busy with other things. He felt keenly that Uncle Wen seemed to be unwilling to talk about things from that year.

At that time, the woman who was being supported by Qi Le and Chen Yu suddenly stared at Bai Yutang and laughed. She drunkenly pointed her finger at Bai Yutang and said, "Oh... good... good man..."

"Li Xu, don't make trouble!" Qi Le was afraid that Bai Yutang would be angry and quickly grabbed her, but Li Xu broke away. She continued pointing at Bai Yutang and saying, "Menace! I can tell with one glance that he’s a scourge... haha ​​... Going to take a life for a life! Look! Retribution is coming... it’s all because of you! "

Bai Yutang frowned slightly. Qi Le quickly blocked Li Xu and turned back to Bai Yutang before saying, "Don't mind her. She drank too much..."

In fact, Bai Yutang had paid attention to Li Xu's words about taking a life for a life. After he’d thought about it for a while, he said to Qi Le, "You help her to the door. I will take you back.”

"Ah? Don't..." Before Qi Le had time to finish her words, Bai Yutang had turned to go get the car.

After driving for about 15 minutes, they arrived at the house Qi Le was renting. Along the way, Bai Yutang and the two girls had chatted casually. Qi Le was more introverted, but Chen Yu was very talkative. Bai Yutang inquired about the drunk woman and gained a rough understanding. Her name was Li Xu, and she was a stage designer. She was often drunk. However, when she was sober, she was easy to get along with. When she wasn’t, she was crazy, always saying that perfectly good men were evil. Perhaps she’d been badly dumped before...

When they arrived, Bai Yutang stopped Qi Le, who had turned to help Li Xu upstairs, "Cell phone."

Qi Le didn't quite understand, but she still placed her phone on Bai Yutang's outstretched hand.

After quickly entering a number, Bai Yutang returned the phone to Qi Le, "Contact me if you have any questions."

After a while, Qi Le nodded, turned around, and turned back again, "I... I don't take drugs anymore."

Bai Yutang nodded with a smile and drove away.

Watching the car drive out of sight, Chen Yu pushed Qi Le in surprise, "Oh my God, is he interested in you?"

"..." Qi Le glared at her, "What are you thinking about?"

"Then why is he so good to you?" Chen Yu asked as she walked inside with Li Xu.

Qi Le naturally understood that Bai Yutang had killed Qi Lei, and because of his death, he felt that he should take some responsibility for her current state of lacking support... He was a good person.

"He has a treasured lover." Naturally, Qi Le couldn't explain the truth to Chen Yu. She could only fudge an answer.

"A treasured lover? What does she look like? I wonder what kind of woman he’s interested in~~~" Chen Yu asked with interest.

"You’re foolish." Qi Le took out the key and opened the door.

"Tell me, elegant and beautiful?" Chen Yu asked curiously.

Qi Le helped her bring Li Xu in, and sighed helplessly, saying, "... More than beautiful..."

She closed the door.

At the corner of the alley outside the door, a lurking man leaned half his body out, his eyes staring maliciously at the door that had just closed.

Bai Yutang drove back to the police station. He called Xu Qing and asked him to check out Wei Yong and Li Xu.

Years of experience in handling cases and good instincts made Bai Yutang faintly realize that there were a few oddities.



The S.C.I.'s office was piled high with a magnificent mountain of documents. Zhan Zhao and Bai Chi sat in the middle of the heap, browsing. They exchanged a few words from time to time.

Gongsun came into the office with a few documents. When he saw the two of them, he shook his head and sighed~~

"Where's Xiao Bai?" He asked Jiang Ping, who was typing on the keyboard.

"The captain said he was going downstairs. I don't know why he hasn't returned yet." Jiang Ping replied without looking up, then pointed at the screen and asked Gongsun, "Is this picture the same as the one under Zhang Zhenzhen's body?"

Gongsun leaned over, "Yeah!" He opened the information and looked at the photo, "It's exactly the same!" What was it?

"I found it on the website of a foreign witchcraft enthusiast." Jiang Ping selected a comment for Gongsun. "The pattern of the eyes is called ‘Atkin’ in the spell, which means that evil can never escape from the eyes of the god of death. Everything will be settled. It’s a punishment from the gods."

"Where's the one under Sun Qian's body?" Gongsun took out the photo and showed it to Jiang Ping.

Just then, Lu Fang knocked on the door, "Xiao Bai..."

Jiang Ping looked up and shouted, "The Boss is out, and he will be back in a while."

"Well..." Lu Fang was a little bit embarrassed, and then he heard the person behind him say, "It doesn't matter, I’ll just wait inside."

Gongsun felt like the voice was a little familiar and looked up. He saw Shen Qian come in.

"Hey, Gongsun, we meet again." Shen Qian greeted him familiarly.

Gongsun looked at Lu Fang in doubt. Lu Fang said, "Oh, Mr. Shen is the owner of the site where the second body was found. He will cooperate with the police investigation."

Gongsun and Jiang Ping glanced at each other, Jiang Ping laughed, "What a warm-hearted citizen."

Shen Qian shrugged with a smile and said to Gongsun, "In fact, I just wanted to see where you work."

Gongsun turned to Jiang Ping and said, "When Xiao Bai comes, call me. I have something important to tell him."

"OK." Jiang Ping nodded.

When Gongsun turned to leave with the file, Shen Qian quickly stepped forward and said, "Would you mind letting me visit the forensic room?"

"I mind," Gongsun said with a sneer, "I only like to have the company of the dead when I work."

After that, he left.

Shen Qian stood there a little awkwardly. Jiang Ping hurriedly lowered her head and smiled as she continued coding.

At that moment, Bai Yutang pushed the door open and came in.

"Boss! Gongsun said he had some important things for you." Jiang Ping said quickly.

"Call him. I also found some things," Bai Yutang said as he walked towards Zhan Zhao's office, but he saw Shen Qian and paused briefly.

"Oh, hello, I am..." As soon as Shen Qian wanted to speak, Jiang Ping said it for him, "That construction site is his."

Bai Yutang nodded and asked Shen Qian, "What are you doing here?"

"I’m here to see how I can cooperate," Shen Qian said.

Bai Yutang glanced at him and said, "No, for the time being, we will contact you if we need anything. Thank you for your cooperation."

By this time, Gongsun had received a phone call from Jiang Ping, and Wang Chao and Zhang Long had hurried back, shouting, "Boss! There’s a situation!"

"Let’s go inside and talk." After that, Bai Yutang left Shen Qian behind and entered the conference room with everyone.

Glancing at Shen Qian outside the door, Bai Yutang asked Jiang Ping, "What do you mean by that?"

Jiang Ping shrugged, frowned at Gongsun, and said softly, "He seems to have ulterior motives."

Bai Yutang nodded his head and looked at the pile of materials in the room. He asked Zhan Zhao, "Kitty, how’s it going?"

Zhan Zhao and Xiao Bai Chi looked up together, "Almost done."

"What's the situation?" Bai Yutang immediately asked the excited Wang Chao and Zhang Long.

The two looked at each other, and Wang Chao said, "Boss, we asked people near the school and found nothing, but the school security said... the school was haunted last night!"

"Hah?" When they heard this, everyone stopped their work and looked up at them in surprise.

"Haunted?!" Bai Chi exclaimed quietly, leaning against Zhan Zhao.

"Yeah!" Zhang Long said, "The school security came out around ten o'clock in the evening to make a circle round the area and said that in the classroom that had the corpse there was green ghost fire and the figure of a long-haired woman shaking in front of the window. He was frightened and ran away.”

The crowd looked dubious. Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Chi, who was clutching his clothes tightly, "Are you afraid?"

"En!" Bai Chi nodded earnestly, attracting everyone's chuckles. He looked back at them with a blush, "You... aren't you afraid?"

Zhang Long squatted down and patted his head. "You are a policeman; how could you believe in this?"

"Then, what's going on?" Bai Chi whispered.

"Had you noticed that the classroom windows are green?" Gongsun asked Bai Chi.

"En." Bai Chi nodded.

"Thus, someone was burning something in it," Bai Yutang said, "a woman with long hair... if the security guard was not mistaken."

"She went there to burn..." Bai Chi looked at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao nodded, "It’s either the murderer or someone who knows something."

Bai Yutang nodded and said, "Everyone hurry up and take a break. Let's go to the construction site tonight to see if we can catch a big fish!"

"Gongsun, what did you find?" Bai Yutang asked Gongsun.

"These are the previous autopsy reports," Gongsun said, "Only the last victim was a child. The others were adults."

Zhan Zhao picked up the newspaper that was just beside him and said, "Yes, it was Xu Jiali, a little girl, 13 years old."

Bai Yutang looked at the autopsy report and newspaper and asked, "What's the problem with that?"

"The other victims were sliced by a knife to cut the carotid artery and were killed directly. Only the back of her head had a traumatic injury, which was caused by being hit by a blunt object." Gongsun said.

Bai Yutang frowned, "This…what does this mean?"

"The murderer's technique changed." Zhan Zhao said, "It doesn’t make any sense according to behavioral analysis!"

"Why do you say that?" Everyone looked at Zhan Zhao in puzzlement.

Zhan Zhao said, "This murderer's magic array has a particular meaning, and he draws it very carefully. He is a perfectionist, and the lines of each of his pictures start from the neck wound and are drawn around the body. In drawing it like this, the whole picture is quite complete! However, if there is bleeding in other places, the integrity of the whole picture will be destroyed, which would be absolutely intolerable to people of his type. "

"What does that mean?" Bai Yutang frowned. "He didn’t do this case?"

Zhan Zhao nodded and said, "That is one possibility, and the other is that something changed when he committed the crime."

"Perhaps it was this change that led him to stop committing crimes for the next ten years?!" Bai Yutang said.

"Right!" Zhan Zhao nodded approvingly.

"Ok! Everyone prepare for tonight!" Bai Yutang said, and went to help organize the newspaper.

Bai Chi suddenly said to Zhan Zhao, as if he had made up his mind, "I will go to catch the ghost, too!"

……………………

The crowd laughed and Zhan Zhao rubbed his head, "Everyone told you it wasn't a ghost!"

In the evening, everyone in the S.C.I. went to catch the "ghost" with great interest. Gongsun was naturally not interested. He went downstairs. Earlier, Bai Jintang had called to tell him he would take him to dinner and asked him to wait at the police station.

But in front of Gongsun there was a white BMW.

"Are you free to eat a meal?" Shen Qian appeared again, sitting in the car and opening the door.

Gongsun looked at him helplessly. At that moment, Bai Jintang's black Mercedes-Benz stopped behind Shen Qian’s BMW. The door opened, and Bai Jintang got out of the car. He walked over to Gongsun. "Did you wait long?"

"I just came down." Gongsun smiled.

"What a coincidence, President Bai." Shen Qian got out of the car and stood in front of Bai Jintang. Gongsun again decided that the two were not comparable. Bai Jintang's presence was absolutely stronger than that of Shen Qian. He wasn’t sure why, but Shen Qian appeared to be looking for trouble...

"Let's go." Gongsun pulled Bai Jintang and left with him. Shen Qian grinned, sat in the car, and smiled coldly. "These brothers are the same. They are so good that it’s disgusting. It’s pretty eye-catching."

He drove away.



After returning home after dinner, Gongsun came out of the bath and saw Bai Jintang sitting on his sofa with his legs crossed, still drinking his wine.

"Your comforter hasn't been brought back yet?" Gongsun asked as he brushed his hair.

"The comforter is gone," said Bai Jintang, "I will stay here."

Gongsun sat next to him, "Shouldn’t you be able to afford a comforter?" He said and took a drink from Bai Jintang’s glass of wine.

Bai Jintang breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Gongsun's actions, grinning, "Gongsun, do you not treat me as a man?"

"...? ..." Gongsun looked at him puzzled, "I can't see where you could seem like a woman... Ah~~"

Bai Jintang had reached out to hug Gongsun and pull him into his lap. "You wore loose pajamas, bared your pretty neck in front of my eyes, sat next to me, and drank the wine in my glass. You know that I like you. It's an invitation for any man. "

"But I don't want to," Gongsun said with a smile in Bai Jintang's ear. "Do you dare to try?"

Bai Jintang said bitterly, "Do you have to torture me like this? Aren’t you getting too much revenge?"

"You have to learn to be patient~~" Gongsun whispered into his ear, "Patience is also an expression of love."

"How nice~~" Bai Jintang laughed suddenly, "I have an idea..." Then, he reached out and gently dragged Gongsun's hips toward him. Bai Jintang was sitting with his legs crossed, so Gongsun felt that his crotch had touched a hard object, as if something was in the pocket of Bai Jintang's pants... a mobile phone?

Bai Jintang raised his corner of his mouth. He held Gongsun's waist firm with one hand, and picked up a phone with his other hand...

Gongsun felt his intention in advance and quickly struggled to stand up, but Bai Jintang wickedly pressed lightly on his waist... Gongsun's waist softened and fell down, and Bai Jintang quickly caught it and said with a smile, "If, if you want it... then I don't have to bear it?" Then, he called the phone.

The cell phone in his pants pocket immediately buzzed and shook. The position was lethal. Gongsun was so shocked that he wanted to run away, but Bai Jintang grasped his waist at the right moment and deliberately pressed him down so that his most sensitive weakness was in close contact with the vibrating cell phone through the thin cloth.

"En~~~" Gongsun slumped into Bai Jintang's arms, reaching out to grab the phone in Bai Jintang's hand.

Grasping Gongsun's hand, Bai Jintang gently moved his leg.

"Ah..." Gongsun couldn't help but groan and waved his hand, "Asshole! You've been planning... Ah~~"

Bai Jintang grabbed his hand and kissed him, feeling that Gongsun had already reacted to the torture of his mobile phone. Bai Jintang smiled and licked the ear of the man in his arms, "It seems like you want it now..."

"Rascal!" Gongsun stretched out his hand to slap Bai Jintang, but it was caught. Bai Jintnag rolled them over and pressed Gongsun onto the sofa, then said softly, "Gongsun, let's start again, okay? One more time... I will be gentle."

Gongsun was speechless and could only stare at the man in front of him. No rejection was tantamount to the best encouragement. Bai Jintang, who had always belonged to the active type, picked up the already weak Gongsun and entered the bedroom.



Unlike the sensual experience over there (1), everyone in the S.C.I. was lying in wait in the cold wind around the construction site.

It was ten o'clock in the evening, and there was still no movement. Ma Han, Zhang Long, and the most timid Bai Chi stood at the tallest point of the construction site and looked down; Zhao Hu and Wang Chao were hidden behind the site.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang sat in the car, staring at the entrance to the construction site.

"Kitty, is it cold?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Mmm~~" Zhan Zhao shook his head.

"It will be Christmas in a few days," Bai Yutang said suddenly, "Would you like to go to the mountains?"

"The mountains?" Zhan Zhao was puzzled.

Bai Yutang took out a bunch of keys and shook them, "Zhaohui gave them to me, saying that my brother recently built a hot spring resort cottage in the middle of the mountains... Would you like to come with me for Christmas?"

Zhan Zhao was slightly surprised, but blushed and nodded.

Bai Yutang was a little nervous, and confirmed again, "Well, are you really willing to go with me? Just the two of us... overnight."

Zhan Zhao's face turned redder, and he turned away, but he nodded with an “en”.

Bai Yutang flew up with joy and kissed him, "Great, Kitty!"

"~~Dammed mouse!" Zhan Zhao stared at him, his face even more red.

At that moment, the radio rang. Bai Yutang quickly pressed the answer button, and listened to Ma Han as he said, "Boss, here we go!"





Translation Notes:

(1) Actually a phrase from a poem The Everlasting Regret that describes the good feeling of a person who slept with someone last night.



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